Ethos Vile
by Oku Moku
Summary: After ten years away from everything she knew, Jinx is back to her old tricks. Flash, now among the most celebrated heroes, has joined the Justice League. But the rules have changed, and the big leagues won't take their little game so lightly. Flinx
1. Chapter One

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Unfortunately.  
**A/N:** There are a few things you need to know before you read this story:  
1. The story begins after the end of the series.  
2. While the events of _Lightspeed_ did happen, Jinx did **_NOT_** show up with Kid Flash to fight the Brotherhood of Evil.  
3. The Teen Titans universe and the Justice League Unlimited universe have been meshed together. This means that I've had to work around (well, completely ignore) what little information about the comics I know. In the span of ten years, the Teen Titans version of Kid Flash (Wally West) has become The Flash; he is the first Flash, so forget anything the comics have ever told you, ever. Characters like Robin were a bit of a problem, because Flash works with Batman in JL. In this fic, the Robin of Teen Titans left Batman and became Nightwing; when things flash forward ten years (pun unintended), there is no 'Robin'; Batman and Nightwing fly solo (well, sort of).  
4. I don't know that Teen Titans actually takes place in Jump City. Is that correct?

I hope this all makes sense. If not... well, just read the fic anyway, and I'll try and answer any of your questions. This chapter is fairly vague, I think; sorry. Enjoy!

**Chapter One: Ten Years**

* * *

**Jump City - Train Station  
**  
Rain poured from the sky, drenching anything that lay uncovered on the earth below. The train station was crowded with civilians eager to get out of the downpour, plastic jackets and umbrellas dripping water onto the linoleum floor, directing a symphony of squeaky sneakers. Children cried and complained, while adults argued with the ticket-taker. Within the otherwise mindless chaos, a teenage boy sat alone beside the giant array of windows that stretched the length of the wall. Had it been earlier in the day, and the atmosphere less tense, no doubt he would have been the center of attention. His body was thing but muscular, the build of a runner, and over it he wore a suit that was most peculiar: red spandex pants gave way to a yellow spandex shirt, long-sleeved with a red lightning bolt emblem stretched taunt across his chest. A cowl covered his neck and upper face, open to reveal a mop of flaming red hair and glittering blue eyes.

Kid Flash slumped further in his seat with a sigh; today had to be the worst day of his life. At the muffled sound of approaching heels, his gaze drifted from the falling rain to the girl that appeared beside him.

"You don't have to do this," he stated as he leapt to his feet. The girl sighed with an air suggesting this wasn't the first time she'd heard him protest.

"Flash, we've been over this," she said impatiently. "This is something I need to do." She picked up a small pink bag with her pale hand, and maneuvered through the crowd toward the door. Both of them had been at the train station for hours. The rain, combined with the more than irritable crowd, had put her patience to the test; it was only with Flash's calming words that she was able to restrain herself from hexing the lot of them into the next century. Even so, her companion was fairly annoying unto himself; he couldn't seem to grasp the fact that she had made up her mind. Nothing he could say was going to change her decision, and yet he wasted enough time attempting to do so, making a frustrating situation that much more unbearable.

"But why?" Flash argued, following her onto the covered platform. The rain was louder here, and had she not turned to glare at him, her face inches from his own, he would have missed her reply.

"Because, Flash. Because." Her voice was as icy as her stare. Flash felt himself instinctively recoil as she turned away and continued walking.

"But Jinx-"

"But _what_, Flash?" Jinx turned again, pink eyes flashing dangerously. "What part of 'I have to do this' do you not understand?" This time Flash stood his ground.

"Look, I can take care of the HIVE - you used to work with them, you know how dumb they are. And I'll talk to Robin, he's a good guy, he'll-"

"FLASH! Just... stop talking, all right?" Jinx stopped walking and so did Flash, staring at the back of her head with a frown. "It isn't you, and I don't want to be a bad guy again, but I have too much history here to start over." Flash's frown deepened; he thought she was wrong, but the time to argue was over.

"At least let me take you," he insisted, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I can get you there in the blink of an eye."

"No thanks," she replied. His smirk faded. "I don't know where I'm going. Besides," she shrugged off his hand, "I like to slow down and enjoy the scenery."

"Where's the train taking you, then?" His voice was colder than Jinx could ever recall.

"The first pit-stop." She heard Flash sigh, and when he spoke again, he sounded significantly warmer.

"Are you sure there's nothing I can say to change your mind?"

The train rolled into the station, deafening as its wheels screeched along the rusted tracks. For a moment he thought he had missed what she had said, before he realized she had not spoken. Steam hissed as the train settled. Jinx turned to face him with an expression so sad, he was almost certain she would change her mind.

"Yes, Flash, I'm sure," she said softly. Flash felt something inside him break; it would not be until long after the train vanished behind the bed that he realized it was his heart.

"I'll look for you," he told her, "and I won't stop until I bring you back home again."

"This place was never home to me, Flash," Jinx said. "Besides, there are hundreds of countries, and you're a busy hero - you'd be wasting your time."

"When you're the fastest boy alive, time is something you've got plenty of."

The crowd slowly thinned until the only ones on the platform were Kid Flash, Jinx, and a handful of the train's new passengers. For a moment hero and former villain stared at one another, oblivious to the rest of the world. Then Jinx turned away, and the crowd around them came crashing into place. She made her way to the train, pausing at the door only when she felt a hand on her arm.

"You won't find me, Flash," she said without turning. His hand slid away. "Heroes aren't the only masters of disguise." Jinx handed her ticket to a man in uniform before boarding the train. Flash backed up to track her through the windows, only to find her pink hair strangely absent from the crowd.

When the train at last began to roll away, Flash followed behind it. The pace was easy enough, and despite the rain, he had little trouble keeping up. When the train reached a bridge, the planks too widespread for him to run across (he could run on water, not air, and the railings were too slick to be trusted), he was forced to stop. He watched the train chug quickly out of sight; before long he stood drenched on the train tracks, cold and alone. With a yell of frustration he spun and ran the opposite direction, unsure of where he was going, and how many times he'd run the world over before he stopped.

He would run, and he would search, and it would be a very long time before either saw the other again.

* * *

**Ten Years Later - JL Watchtower**

Flash was bored.

And hungry.

But mostly bored.

The meeting had been going on forever, or at least in his mind it had been. Then again, he seemed to run on a schedule slightly faster than everyone else, perhaps the only downside to having super speed; not only did his body function at an extremely accelerated rate, but he was also cursed with extreme _impatience_. Granted, he had always lacked patience, or at least from what he could remember about his life pre-speed. He didn't like to think about his childhood much; Kid Flash was a thing of the past, and he wanted it to stay that way.

Besides, they treated him like a rookie, anyway; he might as well be Kid Flash again, for all it was worth.

He had trained himself not to spin his chair during meetings; it squeaked, and he suspected no one had bothered to get it fixed for that very reason. It meant there were fewer distractions for Flash, which meant he was that much more likely to actually pay attention; he liked to get away with his mischief, and attracting the gaze of his fellow Leaguers wasn't getting away with it.

They had, however, given him a glass of water, and he had made due with staring at it for the duration of the meeting.

It wasn't as if they ever discussed anything important; mostly reminders on scheduled public appearances, who was on what shift for monitor duty, what to do about the recent outbreak of petty theft crimes, and on and on and on about things Flash could have figured out without two hours of mindless Bat-droning. As the discussion turned toward civilian and P.D. reports on new villains, Flash lifted the glass into the air, idly watching the water inside slosh against the sides. He resisted a sigh, sparing a quick glance at the screen; a balding, spandex-clad man stared back at him. A witty retort built on the edge of his tongue, but again he held back, as experience had taught him it simply wasn't worth interrupting. Instead, he swallowed his comment on a long sip of water.

"... by the name of Jinx."

It took several thumps on the back from Green Lantern before Flash could breathe again. He couldn't believe that he had heard Batman correctly. Jinx, out in the open, causing chaos and creating mayhem? It didn't seem at all likely, not from the Jinx he knew, because the Jinx he knew had been good. Or at least, that's what he had thought.

The pink woman smirking down at him from Batman's screen said otherwise.


	2. Chapter Two

**Disclaimer:** I don't own, you don't sue.

**A/N:** I know, I know! It's been almost a year... I'm sorry! But here it is, chapter two! Enjoy.

* * *

"Why?"

It was a simple question, one that merited a complicated answer – an answer she wasn't going to give him. Instead she simply smirked, arms folded across her chest, openly mocking him with her silence. This only fueled his frustration – she had forgotten how impatient he could be – which in turn furthered her own twisted amusement.

"_Why?_" he repeated, taking a small step forward. His gloved hands curled into fists at his sides. Maybe an amateur would have been nervous, but she'd been in the criminal business for years. Besides, he'd _never _hurt _her_.

"'Why', what?" she asked innocently, lifting a single eyebrow.

"You left," he stated flatly.

"Very good!" She clapped her hands together with a vicious grin, her voice high-pitched and silly as if she were speaking to a small child. "You have an excellent memory!"

"Dammit, Jinx! You took off ten years ago, and now that you've finally decided to show your face, you've reduced yourself to petty crime? I want to know _why_ you're doing this!"

"Do you really need to know everything?" Jinx purred, her lips settling back into their usual smirk. She rested her chin on her knuckles, elbow propped in her other hand. "Sometimes it's better to just let things be." Her eyes flashed as she spread out her fingers in his direction. As a wave of pale pink magic shot after him, the ground rumbled beneath his feet and sent him flying back.

"You've grown slow in your old age, Zippy."

* * *

**Thirty Minutes Earlier**

It had been a long day. The teleporters in the Watchtower had gone out of commission for three hours – something about an experiment on earth projecting signals with just the right wavelength to disrupt the system. Likewise, any supers on board at the time that lacked the ability to fly were stuck there until J'onn and the tower maintenance crew could get everything back online.

For Flash, three hours was a _very_ long time.

Three hours on monitor duty was even longer.

There were three reasons he hated being on monitor duty. The first was rather obvious: the use of the words 'sit', 'still', and 'Flash' in the same sentence was virtually unheard of. He wasn't known for having much patience to begin with, and with his internal clock running at a hyper-accelerated pace, he had trouble every now and then slowing down for the rest of the world, nevermind lounging in a small, stuffy room with no one to talk to. Well, that wasn't entirely true; while the monitors flashing at every incoming report of white collar crime weren't exactly talkative, there was always the intercom. Unfortunately, Batman was the only person he could locate, and with his being angry enough as it was with the teleporters down, Flash was wise enough to choose not to annoy him any further.

The second reason was simply lack of action. He could stare at the monitors for as long as he liked, kindly inform active supers of trouble that required their special services, and, as a senior member of the League, even coordinate groups to deal with especially nasty problems. But he could never actually participate in beating up the bad guys, never go about the actual saving-the-world bit he so very much loved to do. At least not while he was stuck in the monitor room with his only company being a blinking red light that, if he was cooped up long enough, seemed to be even more obnoxious than he was.

Lastly, Flash despised monitor duty because it gave him too much time to think. For a man who could take time to consider why Martians seemed to enjoy Oreo cookies as opposed to Chips Ahoy, while simultaneously dodging bullets, the usual two hour shifts in the Monitor Room were more than enough to satisfy any urges to contemplate any deep, philosophical issues he may have (which, admittedly, were very few).

Thus, Flash's impromptu assignment was frowned upon with immense displeasure. He hated being bored, despised being out of the action, and above all else, he had absolutely no desire to think about the not-so-mysterious pink haired woman whatsoever. While his colleagues seemed to have dismissed his sudden coughing fit and made no connection to the villainess on the screen (Flash wasn't so confident that Batman had ignored it completely), his own mind was still reeling. It had been _ten years_; why now?

"_FLASH!"_

The sound was a violent blast in his ear and he started, rolling back several feet in his wheeled chair. He scowled, despite the fact that there was no one to see it, silently thankful for the interruption of his mental montage.

"What the hell was that?" he spat as he pressed his ear piece, glaring at the floor.

"If you had answered me the first three times, I wouldn't have had to yell."

Green Lantern's deep voice flooded over the intercom, already tired and impatient with Flash in a way that was more routine than actual annoyance. Flash spun idly in his chair, grinning now in spite of his previous irritation, happy to hear a voice that wasn't Batman's monotonous growl.

"Hey, GL. Sup?"

"If your ass was by the monitors like it should be, you'd already _know_ what's up."

Flash decided he and Green Lantern knew each other far too well.

"The teleporters are up?"

"They've been online for the past fifteen minutes. I'd have thought you'd be out of there as soon as possible. What's with you?"

"Nothing," Flash lied, almost too quickly, though he doubted it would be noticed; he spoke 'too quickly' most of the time. "If it's not the teleporters, what is it?"

"Check the scanners. Batman said there was a sudden crime explosion in Jump City and the surrounding areas. Think you can check it out?"

"Why didn't Batman just tell me?"

"I don't _know_, Flash; the man's busy. Just get a move on."

"Yeah, yeah. Flash out."

He pulled the headset away from his ears, dropping it with a light clatter onto the control board. Someone would figure out he'd left and send a replacement; Flash almost pitied the sap. Almost.

* * *

The museum was a sweet, cool relief from the sweltering temperatures that had swept in with summer. Spandex had a funny way of rubbing in all the wrong places, especially when the air was warm and humid, and you moved as fast as the Flash. He stretched his arms as he slid into the room, quickly hiding his broad frame behind a large stone pillar.

It was silent, save for the low hum of the security equipment. He kept his breathing slow and even; the fewer ways the enemy could detect his presence, the better. The softest tinkle of glass met his ears, and he tensed, ready to defend himself. When nothing happened he peered around the pillar. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, they widened as his mind began to comprehend what he saw.

"Jinx."

She had turned by the time he had realized he'd spoken the words aloud. His brain seemed to be running slower than usual; he could only stand with his mouth agape as she slowly walked toward him, hips swaying ever so slightly. Her smirk seemed only more dangerous on the face of a woman, as opposed to the face of a girl.

"Kid Flash," she returned, crossing her arms as her pink eyes narrowed into a dark glare. "Or I guess you dropped the 'Kid', didn't you? Too childish even for _you_?"

"Why?"

It was a simple question, one that merited a complicated answer – an answer she wasn't going to give him. Instead she simply smirked, arms folded across her chest, openly mocking him with her silence. This only fueled his frustration – she had forgotten how impatient he could be – which in turn furthered her own twisted amusement.

"_Why?_" he repeated, taking a small step forward. His gloved hands curled into fists at his sides. Maybe an amateur would have been nervous, but she'd been in the criminal business for years. Besides, he'd _never _hurt _her_.

"'Why', what?" she asked innocently, lifting a single eyebrow.

"You left," he stated flatly.

"Very good!" She clapped her hands together with a vicious grin, her voice high-pitched and silly as if she were speaking to a small child. "You have an excellent memory!"

"Dammit, Jinx! You took off ten years ago, and now that you've finally decided to show your face, you've reduced yourself to petty crime? I want to know _why_ you're doing this!"

"Do you really need to know everything?" Jinx purred, her lips settling back into their usual smirk. She rested her chin on her knuckles, elbow propped in her other hand. "Sometimes it's better to just let things be." Her eyes flashed as she spread out her fingers in his direction. As a wave of pale pink magic shot after him, the ground rumbled beneath his feet and sent him flying back.

"You've grown slow in your old age, Zippy."


End file.
